LoneSavant

I've seen in my local asian market bags of red melon seeds, and wondered on their uses. I know they can be snacked upon, but must they be hulled first, as sunflower seeds? Or can they be eaten with the hull intact, as pumpkin seeds? Anyone have recipes/uses/info? I regularly make pumpkinseed brittle for use in my patisserie, and at the request of some asian fusion desserts, I'm curious about using melon seeds for that or other ideas... can anyone help?

One thing that I wish Id have brought a case of back, as opposed to a few bottles is Liquore Erbe Luiga Erbe Luiga is, in english, Lemon Verbena, and this liquor is a northern-Italian version of Limoncello, but much grassier and more complex in flavor. Still sweet, and very lemony, the verbena adds wild notes of juniper, white flowers, and sea spray-- I prefer it to limoncello 250%.

When I was raising a bar here in michigan, I always liked to slide in subtle 'english major' jokes... My favorite was a powerful sangria-style cocktail called (with subtitle) "The Medea (it's what to drink when the husband's out and the kids are gone)" I've also always had a cocktail in my repertoire called "Fox Poison," so named because even the smartest, most careful drinker can overdo it on these...

My two favorites, having done my thesis on culinary sociology, are In the Devil's Garden and The Devil's Picnic, by Taras Grescoe Both are about food/dining in relation to sin, propriety, morality, and law- Garden is more historical, Picnic is more modern/political. Fascinating and fun reading!

Hah, yeah you're fine....last night I had a table of 16 not show up, and not answer our call to see if they were actually coming. Not cool.

With as Dutch-Reformed=Conservative as it is in western Michigan, I'm sure our cocktail would be 'tepid water.'

The best financier I've had in awhile was at the Standard Baking Company in Portland, ME...it was dense and firm, instead of puffy and cakey, supremely chewy, and so carmelized and buttery tasting that I was amazed it didnt ooze butter when i bit into it. I've been trying to recreate it ever since, to no avail. All the recipes I try turn out tender, delicate little almond cakes with a faint perfume of beurre noisette-- which are great, but I want a SBC rustic, chewy, caramel confection! Help!

Hmm...favorite spice and herb are tough... I guess I'll base this on those "moments of perfection"...you know, those moments when you take that one bite of something and you can do nothing but sit and stare into the distance...no moan or compliment would even give the bite grace. My two are those that, when perfectly used, always score a 'moment of silence' I'd have to say my spice would be Cardamom... Improperly used it tastes like soap, but it's the one spice to me that in a perfect presentation it evokes such a warm and meditative flavor...like smoke and roses... And in the same vein, my favorite herb would probably be lavender...basil is exquisite, verbena is lovely, but a perfect lavender ice cream makes my eyes cross...

I've become an avid ice cream maker, and have gotten pretty damned good at it, if i do say so myself... Now the problem is shifting the ice cream talents over to no-cream. There's a whole topic on making ice cream, but the more I find, the more the art of sorbet becomes something different. I'm searching for a silky, smooth, intense dessert, however unlike my silken ice creams, I dont have use of egg yolks, lecithin, etc. Anyone have any tips/techniques? Gelatine/Xanthan Gum? Cooked sugars? How can I avoid watery flavor and gritty texture, without a slick, weird, off-tasting effect from too many stabilizers?

When I was living in Genoa, we had the same treat (there it's called Farinata). I've always made it using the following recipe: 1 cup chickpea flour 1 3/4 cup lukewarm water 2 tsp kosher salt (or to taste) 2 Tbsp olive oil plus more for cooking Whisk it all together, and let it sit for at least an hour, at best a whole afternoon. (I go through phases where I keep a juice pitcher of this in the fridge for a week, making Farinata every lunch). Preheat the oven to 475, get a big cast iron pan or--better yet if you have one-- a really heavy sheet pan (oridinary cookie sheets prove a little too thin), dump a generous layer of olive oil across it, and stick the pan in the oven. When the pan itself has preheated, pull it out and (carefully) dump enough batter across the pan to loosely (with some thin/bare patches) cover it. Stick 'er back in the oven for anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes, depending on how brown and crispy you like the edges.

For a spring garden cocktail party a while back I did French 75s using Violette instead of the simple syrup- very nice. Also I recommend using Magellan gin, a very clean, light liquor flavored with Iris, to back up the subtle floral perfume. (in case you were unfamiliar) Violet French 75 1 ounce Magellan Gin 1tsp fresh lemon juice 1/4oz violette 4oz champagne (something light and fruity is best...) You can lessen the amount of champagne to get a stronger gin kick- I prefer the liquor to only perfume the champagne, rather than take it over.

So I'm an avid culinary warrior, heading from Michigan to Portland for a change of pace as early as June, as late as August. Seeing how I'm transitioning everything, from all my personal markets where I find the best deals, to all the restauranteurs with whom I've worked, I'd love a bit of information regarding the food scene on several levels-- Shopping-- a need for quality/selection combined with a "creative" budget. Eating out-- see previous... Working in the food scene-- I'm currently a private chef, and have done everything from serving/bartending to executive chef-ing. Any help/info would be great!

hah... I guess my neuroses would be: 1) Blue food. Food is not blue. If it is blue, it is not food (I'm not talking blueberry-blue, I mean blue-popsicle blue, or anything close). 2) I can't watch people eat mayonnaise. SO gross. *note: i have no problem eating it myself. 3) I've been getting better, but I've ALWAYS and still do have problems eating soup that other people made. Between my love of classic english murder mysteries, and my Uncle teasing me about eyeballs sneaking their way into soup, I always hear the voice in the back of my head going "...you don't know what they could've slipped in there!!"

Really? I've made superfine sugar by food-processing regular sugar with no problems. Did the sugar melt after long processing? ← sadly, superfine and confectioner's sugars are not the same, especially in a decently large quantity as would be the case in cake icings.

oy... ...i will never again experiment in a pinch with making my own 10x sugar... granulated sugar + cornstarch + blender = crunchy, pasty buttercream.

In my experience, yes. If someone who is accustomed to selling a $300 dinner for two receives a 15% tip (assuming there weren't any problems with the food/service) , my guess is that they'll be disappointed. In the states (in my experience) the more upscale the restaurant, the less chance you have of getting a lower percentage tip. At a casual restaurant where a dinner for two costs $30-40, I presume a 15% tip is less of a disappointment. When the bill isn't that much, the percentage becomes more a matter of principle than one of gained or lost money. I think perhaps often servers see large bill tip percentages in terms of lost money (in terms of percentage) rather than gained (in terms of dollar amount vs. a less expensive dinner). 25% on $80 = $4 over the standard 20% tip, but 15% on $300 = $15 under the standard 20% tip. I think barring issues with the service and/or food, standards in the US (a 2.50$ per hour wage for servers in many cases) create an expectation that they should receive 20%, or 18%, or whatever, and anything less is simply the diner choosing not to pay with no justification other than that they are cheap. I think it gets a little trickier when you get to San Francisco (as you can see in this thread) where servers still expect 18-20%, plus the new 5% insurance charge, and get paid close to $8/hour. ← Not that I speak on behalf of all servers or anything, but I can easily recognize quantity of work in my own job-- if I have a single guy come in, order a single drink (though maybe its expensive) and order a single course (though maybe its an expensive one) but he's in-and-out, and I have to do little more than punch his stuff into the computer and bring it out, even if his bill is 50 bucks i certainly don't expect 10 bucks simply because I was there to bring him his food. Similarly, if I bust my butt all night for a table of six who run me ragged ordering and re-ordering cheap stuff, and their bill hits a hundred bucks, i CERTAINLY expect that they notice how much i went out of my way for them and not leave me only a twenty. Since when has the "Standard" tip risen to 20%? It used to be 15% and now I see people like you saying it is 18% to 20%, why has the base point shifted? Don't give me the argument that it had rise to keep up with inflation, the cost of food and meals has risen faster than inflation still a 15% tip today is worth more than a 15% tip was in 1970 (date used as an example) when inflation is figured in. In my book the tip for good service is 15% and to give anything above that service should be exceptional! I realize that wait staff deserves to receive a good wage for their work but they need to realize that customers also have budgets to live within. ← That's fine that we all have budgets to live in, but people need to factor the service in with their meal. When you have fifty dollars to spend, you don't spend 45 and think "eh, i'll just tip less to keep it in budget." You spend 40, and fulfill your responsibility as a proper diner. Customers may have budgets for dining out, but servers have budgets for their rent and groceries. If you can't spend it, don't go out.

Not that I speak on behalf of all servers or anything, but I can easily recognize quantity of work in my own job-- if I have a single guy come in, order a single drink (though maybe its expensive) and order a single course (though maybe its an expensive one) but he's in-and-out, and I have to do little more than punch his stuff into the computer and bring it out, even if his bill is 50 bucks i certainly don't expect 10 bucks simply because I was there to bring him his food. Similarly, if I bust my butt all night for a table of six who run me ragged ordering and re-ordering cheap stuff, and their bill hits a hundred bucks, i CERTAINLY expect that they notice how much i went out of my way for them and not leave me only a twenty. In my book the tip for good service is 15% and to give anything above that service should be exceptional! I realize that wait staff deserves to receive a good wage for their work but they need to realize that customers also have budgets to live within. ← That's fine that we all have budgets to live in, but people need to factor the service in with their meal. When you have fifty dollars to spend, you don't spend 45 and think "eh, i'll just tip less to keep it in budget." You spend 40, and fulfill your responsibility as a proper diner. Customers may have budgets for dining out, but servers have budgets for their rent and groceries. If you can't spend it, don't go out.

I'm glad I got a chance to hear about this from Alex! I'm ready for August now! ...actually, I've been ready for august since about november...stupid Michigan winters...

Wow, sounds really interesting! Have a recipe to share? What do you suppose the keeping qualities will be?

Wow! And the beans are as advertised? No issues? ← I'll admit I haven't gotten mine yet, so I can't PERSONALLY vouch for them, but there's a whole other forum of happy customers discussing their vanilla-related projects, so I'd assume the best.

P.S. the recently aforementioned vanilla bean source is here: http://stores.ebay.com/Vanilla-Products-USA Thanks to the eGullet-ers that passed it on to me!

So after ordering vanilla beans off an eBay store at 12 bucks a pound (instead of 12 bucks for five.) from a tip I found in one of the forums, I figured we probably all have a few resources for cheap/discounted/super-special ingredients and tools for online shoppers. Why don't we use this forum to share, and swap some website addresses so we can spend some cash we probably ought not to, on things we all REALLY want!

Speaking as one who's served for ten years, I think that people need to re-address the system before they complain too heavily. *forenote: I'm speaking in terms of the upper-fifty percent of dining...grabbing a milkshake at a truckstop is not the same as dropping 300 bucks at a fancy wine bar First of all, with as many people aware of the service industry, and as transient as servers tend to be, there are MILLIONS of servers waiting to take the job of a bad one. Therefore, one of us 'just in for the money,' who consistently gives bad service tends to get the boot post haste. Restaurants are becoming much more capitalist as well; servers next-to-never have the ability to get any sort of benefits, and yet the more and more venues that open, the more expertise the average server is expected to have, especially at larger, higher-end, or more well-known places. DON'T see this as a "blowing my own horn," but being a good server at a busy place is a very difficult job which requires a decent level of skill. That being said, to say "servers make X dollars on average, which should be enough" is not an argument. We can use this same case to say lawyers, doctors, janitors, and teachers all make X dollars and "that should be enough," and yet a) we don't *choose not to pay them*, nor do we b) see many people from WITHIN those professions agreeing that they make far too much money. Most importantly, MOST of you DO know how to tip, and do it properly and regularly, which is fine. Automatic gratuities are for the 40% of you who have no idea. I can't tell you how often I get -the group of loud drunk 20somethings who run me through dozens of rounds of drinks and then leave me the change on their cash -the party of ten who order four courses each, with a bill of 1100, who leave me 50 bucks because "hey...50 bucks is a lot of money. That should be enough" ....and so on. Again, this is NOT an argument of pity, simply an explanation that an automatic gratuity ensures that I will be paid for my work. Would I love to switch over to a 45,000/year salary with benefits and scrap the entire IDEA of tipping? Heck yes! BUT...until we do, we have to work within the system we have...guaranteeing me, instead of full dental, at least your 20%.

yeah, for the record, I never swore I didn't mess it up...I just said I'd made 'em a million times:wink: you're more than likely right, I was just curious on foam-cake re-sizing, and if I'd eventually reach a point where things had to change to maintain quality.

I've made madeleines since I was 15, and always been pretty damned good at it (in fact, as a grounded 15-year old, I baked a batch that my mom offered to un-ground me for possession of the whole thing...talk about food having power...) A decade later, I baked my usual batch, but tried out a new one-third-size shell pan-- the cups are more like an inch and a half, rather than four inches or so. Obviously, I took them out of the oven earlier, and all that, but when they were done they had a powdery, crumbly crumb, and were dryer than my humor on a bad day. They almost seemed bubbly or spongy on the inside, but the "cell-walls" were brittle and hard. Was it a fluke? Or do I need to alter the recipe in some ways to accomodate a significantly smaller cake?